


The Art of Not Being Gay

by Scarfinator



Category: Tales of Series, Tales of Zestiria, Tales of the Rays (Video Game)
Genre: Denial of Feelings, F/F, First Kiss, Making Out, Snacks & Snack Food, The Pocky Game, Useless Lesbians
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-05
Updated: 2018-12-05
Packaged: 2019-09-12 09:30:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,694
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16870450
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Scarfinator/pseuds/Scarfinator
Summary: Rose has caught onto Mileena's more than a little suspicious thing for women. Mileena doesn't completely realize it, but she's caught onto Rose's borderline lesbian habits as well. But they're both straight, right? Especially Mileena, who's dedicated her whole life to Ix, dedicated her life to extremes not even most of the Nexuses are aware of? The time has come for them to prove themselves to one another, to prove that they're neither lying to each other nor to even themselves....Really.





	The Art of Not Being Gay

“Hey Mileena! Glad you came. The carving’s right over here, what do you think?”

Mileena scanned over the wood carved statue before her, and squealed just a touch. “She looks fantastic! I never would have taken you for an artist, Rose!”

“Aw, you wouldn’t have? That makes me sad,” Rose laughed, and patted her shoulder. “A master merchant explores every nook and cranny to make the best profit!”

Mileena smiled back at her, giggling. “You’ve got enough talents on you as is. A merchant, a fighter, an inventor… I guess I just missed the artist part.”

Rose smirked, and feigned exasperation as she replied, “What, you trying to get yourself a discount through flattery? Not happening! I know you really do just love me that much, but man do you turn up the dial sometimes.”

' _I know you really do just love me that much._ ' Mileena lingered on that part of Rose’s statement for a moment. A strange weight formed in her chest; this happened often whenever Rose alluded to their friendship in any way. It confused Mileena, but at this point she had chalked it down to being happy to have a friend like her.

Rose looked over Mileena’s slightly dazed face, raised an eyebrow briefly, and then continued.

“Well, I guess it’s true I’m more of a seller at heart. Besides, it’s not like I can completely take credit for this since Milla did half the work.” She looked back at the statue. “She’s a natural at this sorta thing. I was lucky to have her on the job with me.”

Mileena nodded. The wood carving was of a dignified female seraph, skillfully weathered to resemble aging through several burn marks. Since the lord of spirits Milla had helped her put it together, Rose intended to mass produce it for the public as “carvings blessed by Maxwell”.

“Well, back to what I said about you being multi talented…” Mileena started explaining, bringing a finger to her chin. “Jack of all trades, master of none, right? I suppose that’s why I’m surprised it turned out so exquisite.”

Rose playfully pouted. “Hey, that’s pretty harsh! The rest of the saying goes ‘but better than master of one’! I’ve gotta be versatile in this business, and like I said, all you guys’ help makes up for the actually pretty mild ‘master of none’ problem.”

Mileena giggled. “Well, we’ll just have to see if and when the profit comes rolling in, right? I’m not so sure people will buy that ‘‘blessed by the lord of spirits’ story of dubious legitimacy that you came up with. But I suppose business is just as much about risks as it is basic knowledge.”

“Exactly!” Rose chirped and gave her a thumbs up, completely ignoring the implication that she was committing fraud. “Nothing ventured, nothing gained. And we never, ever know _everything_ about what sells and what doesn’t.”

“Yes. Experimentation and research in addition to tried and true practices…” Mileena added, as though she was reciting a passage from a book. “Although, I do want to suggest we sell primarily in places within the continent Milla was exoflected into. Her world is more familiar with the concept of Maxwell, after all.”

“Yeah,” Rose mused, crossing her arms. “The cultures here are only intermingling so fast, and not all of them are buying that there’d be a lord of spirits quite like that exact Maxwell to begin with…”

Mileena smiled a proud smile, then relaxed her beaming into a serious but still warm expression. It always pleased her to be able to talk to Rose on equal terms. “That said, I truly can’t thank you enough for lending your merchant prowess. I don’t recall ever having this much money even when Sellund was providing us with funding and other such necessities.”

“Hey, no sweat. It gives me something to do in this world, yanno?” Rose grinned right back with gentle eyes. “And I’ve got my old friends from when I was on Sorey’s big Shepherd journey here, and then some. I do get homesick a lot for the Sparrowfeathers; after all, they were my family. But since they’re good as gone for me, this comes close enough to working as a substitute.”

She put her hands on her hips proudly, looking over Mileena. “And I’ve got you here too! All the interesting people here, and you’re one of the lucky few I keep coming back to.” Rose smiled even wider, warmth in her eyes. “I’m gonna risk sounding like you and your flattery for a second, but, well. I really do love your company, Mileena. You have a natural business sense that blew me away the first time I heard it come out of you, you’re chipper enough to lighten up any mood even with the situation we’re all in… And you’re fun to tease too, that’s always important.”

“Hehe, I’m glad you’re having fun with this. It puts me at ease knowing that none of your work for us is a burden to you.” Mileena blushed, and smiled once more. “I treasure your company as well…” She trailed off as though she was going to continue, but instead chose to stop. Her eyes averted Rose’s, her face showing hints of embarrassment at what she had nearly told Rose.

“Yeah, it’s great working with everyone,” Rose said, ignoring her nervous gestures. “It was getting lonely with just Dezel for that long…”

Mileena looked back at Rose. “I can imagine. He’s not one for talking much, whereas you’re quite loud and brash. But now that you’re here, you have all sorts of fellow chatterboxes to mingle with. Rutee, Farah, Arche…”

“Hey, are you really gonna call me brash when you put out just what you think of me like it was nothing?”

“Yes. Yes I will~” Mileena sung.

“Well, as long as we both know what we are.” Rose sighed, and suddenly pulled out a box of strawberry pocky from one of the pouches in her belt. She cracked it open immediately. “Phew, forget about all that for now. I’m starving… I should cook something later. Might as well; I think we both know whatever Raine’s doing is gonna suck.”

Rose popped the stick of pocky into her mouth, eating half of it with just one bite. Mileena watched her crass way of biting into the snack with an amused but soft grin.

“Want one?” Rose asked her, swinging another stick in front of Mileena.

She blinked, distracted by what she would describe as Rose’s “cute” way of eating pocky.

“O-oh, that would be great! Thank you Rose!” She took one from the box, and nibbled her own stick more slowly. The sugary taste entered her mouth immediately despite how slowly she ate it, and refreshed her. Perhaps she was just as hungry as Rose was.

She wanted to savor it; the strawberry flavor was her favorite. Although she had only tried a few flavors, the strawberry was her favorite because of how sweet it was. Not overly sweet, but more so than the chocolate.

No matter the flavor though, she was very happy Rose introduced the snack to her.

“These really are delicious…” Mileena let Rose know her feelings on the snack out loud. “Are we going to be getting in more flavors soon?”

Rose grinned wryly, like a parent dealing with a needy child. “Patience, Mileena~ We still have to watch our funds a touch, remember? ...Although I guess these are pretty cheap. Sure, I can still get some more soon. How about we try cookies and cream next? That sounds up your alley.”

“You’d be right about that!” Mileena chirped, lifting her hand to hi-five her. As soon as Rose reciprocated, Mileena turned back to the seraph statue.

Rose described the carving as “beautiful” when she asked her to approve its quality for sale, and Mileena viewed the descriptor as an understatement. The substantial length of the subject’s hair was the most noticeable attribute. It was done up in a cute ponytail and wrapped in a spiral around her body. A fancy tiara adorned the top of the seraph’s head, adding the near literal cherry on top to the statue’s obvious focal point.

She wore a bolero over a short dress, both of which were adorned with lace patterns all along each edge, constructed from small burn marks. Her high heeled shoes were daintily crafted, with ribbons tied around the ankles in a way that vaguely resembled the ribbons Edna wrapped around the full length of her own legs.

“Not only beautiful, but adorable as well…” Mileena murmured, bringing a hand to her chin in complentation. “And I would dare say that ‘gorgeous’ describes her more accurately than ‘beautiful’.” She turned to Rose, and when she spoke again she raised her voice back to a normal volume.

“Rose, is this woman based off of a seraph that you’ve seen? It’s pretty detailed for something that would come out of just your imagination.”

She beamed at her words. “It sure is! Her name’s Lailah, and she has an incredible presence and figure. I’d remember what she looks like near perfectly even if I hadn’t seen her for years.” Rose clasped her hands together, practically bouncing out of her seat.

“She’s even more ‘gorgeous’ in real life,” she sighed.

Mileena raised an eyebrow and giggled. “Hehe… To think you’ve warned me that my own gushing over cute girls would make people suspicious about my intent.”

Rose chuckled. “You mean about people thinking you’re a lesbian, right? Yeah, don’t worry, I know you’re not one. You talk a big game about ‘gorgeous statues’, but Ix is on your mind too often for you to have any concern for the ladies.”

“So you noticed, didn’t you?” Mileena said. “Yes. He’s protected me for all my life, so I owe him a great deal. Right now, my top priority is removing him from the Mirrage Prison as soon as possible while still keeping this world intact.”

She paused, and a grim look crossed her face. “He would never forgive me if I were to destroy the world while extracting him, after all…”

“Well, I think a bigger concern would be that he’d die anyway if you let the voidstorm out with him, yanno?” Rose shrugged. “Then he’s dead and so are you; no more mutual protection for either of you.”

Mileena sighed uncomfortably, and shook her head. “Yes… And I’m glad I realized that before it was too late.”

“...He means that much to you, huh?” Rose narrowed her eyebrows, grim.

“Yes. I have no shame in dedicating my life to him when he’s this close of a friend to me. Perhaps one day I truly can become his lover…”

“Maybe,” Rose sighed, a hint of disinterest in her voice. “I’m cheering you on, but right now I’ve got a kind of related idea if you wouldn’t mind?” She took another stick of pocky out of her box, and wiggled it in front of her.

Mileena gulped. There was something about a tradition with pocky she remembered Rose telling her about, but she couldn’t remember exactly what it was. The more she tried to recall it, though, the more lightheaded she began to feel.

“Hey Mileena. Do you remember the pocky game? That thing I told you about?”

Mileena paused before answering. “...I can’t say I do.”

Rose chuckled and shook the pocky a touch again. “You sure about that~? You look pretty dang nervous to me. Almost as if you remember it’s about—”

Mileena’s eyes shot open. The dots had been connected.

“I-I can’t!!” She blurted out. “I just told you how deeply I feel about Ix, and you try to play a game that could end in us kissing?! Even through only touching our lips? I can’t…”

“Relax! It’s completely no homo, between friends. Gal pals. A little claustrophobic tension here and there never hurt, right? And I never said I was actually into girls.”

“Well, you never said you weren’t, either… And the way you’re wording that is pretty suspicious.” Mileena huffed and started to fidget a touch.

Rose’s wry smile only grew deeper at the sight of Mileena twirling a piece of her long hair. “Well, if you don’t believe me—and for the sake of this let’s just say I might not believe you either—why don’t we prove it to each other? Prove that we’re not a couple of gay girls in total denial.”

Mileena’s heart skipped a beat at Rose’s proposal. “Th-that’s pretty direct of you, isn’t it?! I can’t believe you actually put it out there like that… And seriously, I can’t betray Ix!”

“You think _I’m_ direct? I can’t believe _you_ didn’t deny my Ix comment even a bit. You’re pretty shameless about him, yanno?” Rose shrugged, then smirked.

“But back on topic: You never started a relationship with him either, didn’t you? And I told you already, I’m not looking to start a relationship with you either, I told you. I just wanna be a guinea pig for your theory, and help you if it turns out you _are_ in denial about being bi.”

Rose’s eyes narrowed and her grin grew wider. “You really could be wrong.”

Mileena went silent for about half a minute. Rose waited patiently for her answer.

“I’ll do it!” Mileena finally blurted out. “I-I still can’t tell if this is a game or if you’re being completely serious about trying to get me to come out or anything. But… But if you’ve got even the slightest bit of a hunch that I would ever love someone other than Ix, then I have to prove it to you! You can be so mean...”

Rose beamed and nodded. “Well, if it turns out we like girls after all, I’ll just say you’ve got the advantage. Your heart’s on Ix 110%, right? That’s an advantage you’ve got over me; I’ve got no one in my life right now.”

Mileena glanced aside. “No one, huh? That’s quite the shame,” Her face was red and sweaty as she spoke, only turning a deeper crimson as Rose walked over to her. Mileena looked back at Rose. Her opponent’s eyes were locked onto her entire face.

She averted her eyes from Rose’s sharp, unwavering gaze. By this point, she was right in her face, preparing the pocky. Mileena gulped again, her heart audibly pounding from where Rose stood.

She couldn’t tell for the life of her if Rose was still fooling around. Surely that stone cold determination driving her expression was just an act. Just Rose teasing her, right? Good ol’ Rose; Rose is Rose, as Sorey always said, even if she was going too far. But the butterflies were still dancing around in her stomach, and she began to shake.

“I mean, you don’t gotta actually do this. It’d be fun, but I get how it’d be awkward even if you’re not—"

“I’m fine!” Mileena blurted her reply out stiffly and swiftly. “Let’s do it.”

Her eyes glazed over; she was entering a daze. Something from her very soul–something that went so deep it originated from every facet and corner of even her anima—told her she would enjoy every last bit of this game. Even if she was nervous; _especially_ if she was nervous.

“I bet you’re going to lose big time,” Rose cooed. She was inches away from Mileena at this point. She stuck one end of the snack in her mouth, and quickly inserted the other end of it into Mileena’s own mouth.

Neither could talk anymore with food in their mouths, but the “are you ready?” and the subsequent “I’m ready” from each girl was clear even without words. Mileena began to nibble towards Rose, dread giving way to excitement. A twinge of the dread was still there, but Ix was the last thing on her mind. After a few seconds, she realized how unlike her it was to forget the boy who had been her very purpose for living all this time.

She nearly let go of the pocky mid-bite. But she restrained herself, and continued nibbling. She looked even further into Rose’s eyes. Rose had failed to move even the slightest bit, instead watching her intently with the fire of a hungry predator.

And then. Not even a second after they locked eyes.

Rose closed the distance—her lips were now directly on Mileena’s. After holding back for so long, she completely disregarded the rules, and ate all the pocky between them in one bite. She chewed the pocky into pieces, mouth still directly in front of Mileena's own.

The point was to _not_ close the distance, yet Rose willfully did just that. Thus bringing the game to a tie.

Rose swallowed the pocky bites, then took the situation to its logical extreme—she outright opted to kiss Mileena. Mileena hadn’t technically lost, at least, but at what cost? ‘ _Not much cost honestly,_ ’ she thought.

She was appalled at herself, but it felt… good. A low groan escaped her as Rose’s lips moved upon her own.

Rose inserted a tongue into her mouth at the signal of her enjoyment, placing the tip on the top of Mileena’s own. She shivered as Rose used her tongue to slowly stroked the top of hers. She slowly and hesitantly returned the gesture, and Rose smiled as much as she could through locked lips.

After what felt like an eternity, but in reality only lasted for a short while, Rose took what little there was of Mileena’s end of the pocky into her own mouth, and pulled away.

Mileena gasped as Rose freed her from the ecstasy. Even from the short amount of time their mouths were in contact, it was clear Rose had done this before. In other words, Rose was definitely teasing her for all this time, completely lying about “being straight”.

“Y-you tricked me, huh... You knew all along that you were interested in me…”

Rose took a moment to finish eating the pocky, then leaned in front of Mileena’s side. “Forget you losing your business sense earlier… Forget me thinking you were smarter than that before…” she murmured into her ear. “I’m just amazed that you thought I was straight for that long…”

Any response that Mileena could have given was lost. Her eyes glazed over, the butterflies growing inside her stomach. No, her entire body at this point. Instead of exiting her daze, she only fell further into it.

“Yeah, I definitely like girls. And I’ve done this exact thing casually with a lot of those girls I like…” Rose cooed. “Traveling around the world means I’ve got a lot of ‘em to choose from, and I’m pretty good at knowing who’s into women and who’s not. And that’s just how I knew you’d love this.”

“Is that so…” Mileena murmured. She covered her mouth; she partially did it because she was still comprehending how and why she was kissed. But she also tried to stop herself from saying anything about it. ‘ _That was awful! Why did you do that to me?_ ’ was what nearly escaped her mouth. ‘ _It felt fantastic,_ ’ was what she almost said instead. In the first place, she was raised better than to be so rude, but…

Being kissed by Rose, or rather outright making out with her, also sent thoughts of how she possibly could have wished for that sort of outcome all along. And it was true she stuck her own tongue into Rose’s mouth as well...

Rose drew away from the side of Mileena’s head to face her once more. “You’re special, though,” Rose said, her voice still low and longing. “So, I’ve gotta ask… You sure about that whole ‘Ix is the only person I could ever love’ thing? And are you really sure you don’t swing both ways?”

“I’m not sure about anything at this point…” Mileena mumbled.

“If you want me to help you figure it all out, we could do this more. Just a bit longer this time.” Rose ran her hands down Mileena’s cheek as she spoke. “Hehe, you’re still so red and hot. But yeah, we could do it more. Right this second. Even longer than just ‘a bit longer’ if you’d like.”

Mileena snapped back to reality, her face turning as red as possible. “W-we can’t do that here!” She sputtered. “I’d… rather no one know about this for now, and we’re right out here in the open. Anyone can come in at any time, and in fact…” She paused. “I can feel Karia coming towards this room right now.”

Rose shrugged, clearly disappointed. “Oh yeah, that whole ‘mirrites are connected to their master’s emotions and feelings’ thing. Let’s hope she didn’t feel any of that; that’d be awkward.”

“D-don’t remind me!” Mileena cried.

“Well, that’s fine by me.” Rose smirked devilishly. “We can pick this all back up in private later. Even better and more intense than before… Just as much as you’d like. I’d suggest my room, ‘cause things might get—”

“Y-you’re going too far!” Mileena protested.

“Ehehe… Sorry. You’re so cute though, it’s hard.”

Karia finally burst into the room after that.

“Miss Mileena, quit arguing with Rose! Raine needs your help at the oven again; that ‘bitter pork curry’ of hers caught on fire!”

Mileena quickly composed herself with a deep, sharp breath. “I tried to warn her! Let’s get over that, fast!”

Karia flew back towards the kitchen, and Mileena followed close behind. Rose waved behind them as they ran off, satisfied for the time being.

As she ran, Mileena thought about what she might have in store for her later. ‘ _I can’t think too hard about her… People will catch on if they see me getting so flustered_.’

She sighed through the hurried breaths of her running. It still felt wrong for her to abandon her feelings for Ix, but she could no longer deny she was likely moving on from him for another.

It’s not like she’d ever leave his side no matter their relationship, though. So would going to Rose instead really be that bad?

**Author's Note:**

> "It's not Pocky Day that was almost a month ago" Dont care, the pocky game is timeless and also I never got anything done for that day anyway so this fic makes up for it. It's is a sequel of sorts to Rose's skit in Rays where she carves that statue with Milla. Mileena isnt there in that skit, but this is Rose inviting her in private to look at it after the fact.
> 
> Lesbian Mileena, bi Mileena, (CDI Mario voice) Gay Mileena? I'm always here for it. And as I've been working on the Rose and Dezel event for the Rays translation project, I'm not very slowly starting to ship her with Rose big time. What's mostly making me ship it other than dynamics is the whole thing about Mileena's natural business sense that I had Rose bring up here; its a cute bonding point!!
> 
> Anyway, have a first kiss between a lesbian and either a bi girl or another lesbian. Okay, their first kiss between each other I mean; its far from Rose's first one. (yes, I do indeed headcanon Rose as a raging lesbian who enjoys casual one night stands. I bet she had LOTS of fun with the noble girls in Konan or whoever his name was's castle when she still had that engagement with him (that im fairly certain was political))


End file.
